<p>Since the second half of 1990’s, in many formerly industrial cities, attempts at urban regeneration have been launched by local governments, both by mobilizing cultural policies and by developing creative industries. Policies for urban regeneration centered on cultural policies have dual aspects: on the one hand, a convergence toward “urban entrepreneurialism,” and on the other an aspect that gives consideration of social inclusion which is opposed to that. Many authors have taken a critical stance towards the former, but there are few that have examined the latter.</p><p>In this situation, France actually has following two movements: One is that of urban regeneration through cultural policies and nurturing creative industries, and the other is that of emphasis on social inclusion that promotes a social and solidarity economy.</p><p>This paper will consider how the strategy of urban regeneration and social and solidarity economic policy are progressing in Roubaix, a city with significant problems of unemployment and of poverty caused by the decline of the textile industry. Over the past three decades, French urban policy has tried to solve social problems through urban development, however, the improvement of economic and physical conditions has been receiving more emphasis than that of social conditions in recent years. We would like to clarify how, in a new trend of French urban policy, urban development and the solution of socio-economic problems are being advanced in Roubaix by focusing especially on the social and solidarity economy.</p><p>The main points of the paper are:</p><p>First, the strategy of urban regeneration through a shift to fostering and attracting creative industries and to large-scale urban development, which was started in the middle of 1990’s and conforms to the recent trend of national urban policy, has to some extent achieved results in the economic dimension through the creation of new jobs and establishment of new enterprises.</p><p>Second, that strategy has however not been able to solve the problems of unemployment and social integration faced by former textile factory workers and their families, and these remain as major unsolved problems for the city of Roubaix.</p><p>Third, in order to solve such social as well as economic problems, urban regeneration policy in Roubaix since the year 2000 has also been centered around a social and solidarity economy. Specifically, the activities of associations are being endorsed as a positive tool for job creation and social integration for unemployed people, and they are being deliberately linked to changes in the city’s spatial infrastructure and to providing access to employment for former residents. In other words, they are attempting to create pathways which link urban development to the solution of social problems like unemployment or social integration, instead of just expecting indirect improvement through trickle-down effects.</p>